Need help w/ external hard drive!!!

[SwampKat]

I have a western digital 750gb desktop hard drive, it makes a clicking sound when I plug it in and my computers won't read it.

Need help to get the data that's on it transferred.

 

[spanky]

I've never had any luck extracting data from a "clicking" hard drive.

 

[kengel2]

I was getting ready to say good luck.

 

[Orfus5]

try taking it out of the external case and put it inside the computer, if it still clicks the drive is dead for sure.

 

[tunatuk]

The only moving parts in a hard disk drive are the platter and the magnetic arm (and the parts used to move these items). If you here clicking, it is probably because the platter is off kelter, and the arm is striking it. This is not good, and 99,999 out of 10,000 times, you cannot get any data off without replacing the platter into a case that is working perfectly. But even that is risky, and you'd need a clean room, and be able to seat the platter perfectly down to the .0000000001"

One thing I have had sporadic success (never duplicated perfectly) has been to throw the hard drive into a stack of pillows, or hit it with a rubber mallet. This has only worked on hard drives that had a faint clicking, not a very loud, pronounced clicking. The two times this has worked, the computer did not recognize the drive prior to the "repair." I was able to retrieve some of the data, but not all before the drives crashed for good.

 

[spanky]

This is not good, and 99,999 out of 10,000 times, you cannot get any data off without replacing the platter into a case that is working perfectly.

Holy unpossible.

 

[jlg]

.

 

[Orfus5]

yea ive had the freezer trick work once for a little bit

 

[SwampKat]

Gonna try the freezer trick, I have most of the drive backed up but it's still a few hundred Gb's of stuff to sort through.

 

[SpeedRacer]

Do the freezer thing and immediately start backing up if possible. Maybe you'll get lucky.

If not...well let's just say my brother spent ~$2000 having data retrieved from a clicking hard drive about the same capacity as yours, and that was after shopping around.

 

[Bearco]

Put it in the freezer in a ziploc bag. Seriously, that helps sometimes. I'd try that before hitting it with a mallet.

http://lifehacker.com/5515337/save-a-failed-hard-drive-in-your-freezer-redux

will not work for a clicking hard drive. If you have files on it that you desperately need, then there are services available at a premium. They usually start around $700 and quickly go up from there.

Edit: BTW, everyone should know that hard drives have a 100% fail rate. If you have important files, then make sure you run a backup of them.

 

[herohog]

If ya DO try to whack the drive, do it from the SIDE (hit the THIN side of the disk) so you don't bounce the heads of the platters!

 

[Pacioli]

If you really need to get the data, try this company...

http://www.pcrecoveryllc.com/

I used them earlier this year. They're not cheap, but they are good. And the turnaround time was fast.

 

[jimdana1942]

save urself alot of wasted time and go get another one.

 

[theway109]

If you really need to get the data, try this company...

http://www.pcrecoveryllc.com/

I used them earlier this year. They're not cheap, but they are good. And the turnaround time was fast.

+1 on PC Recovery. They are worth the money if you need your data.

 

[herohog]

save urself alot of wasted time and go get another one.

It's not the disk, it's the DATA that has value.

 

[Turn Key]

target practice

This sounds like a range trip bro, shoot the POS...

I have a western digital 750gb desktop hard drive, it makes a clicking sound when I plug it in and my computers won't read it.

 

[W1nds0rF0x]

Edit: BTW, everyone should know that hard drives have a 100% fail rate. If you have important files, then make sure you run a backup of them.

I have some circa 1996 Big Foot drives that ran in desktops for about 3 years and were then added as a RAID dirve in a server and ran 24/7 for 6 years straight until they were replaced with larger drives.